She Runs: She Started Running In Her 70's

Eighty-year-old Ellin Grossman has only been running for the past six years, but she already has over 70 5Ks and track races under her belt. You could say that Ellin came late to the sport, but when you realize that when she was in college, Title IX was still some years away and women didn’t compete in sports at today’s levels, it makes perfect sense that she’s now reaching her potential as a runner.

After a 25-year career in teaching at the collegiate level and multiple academic certificates including a PhD from the University of Houston and a position as the Dean of Arts and Sciences at the same university, Ellin retired in order to spend more time with her nine grandchildren. Around this time, she discovered that she had rheumatoid arthritis in both of her knees, causing massive swelling and difficulty walking. Though she had been active in Pilates classes for years, she decided that she needed to step up her activity and so she was put in touch with a personal trainer.

For the first year of her training, she and her trainer focused on walking, strength exercises and other activities to maximize her fitness. It wasn’t until the end of that year, that her trainer suggested that she run the 25 yards at the end of the track. Much to her surprise, Ellin loved it, even turning to her trainer asking, “Can I do more?”

Another surprise for Ellin? Her trainer, David H. Segal, was actually a former Olympic sprinter who competed for the United Kingdom in the 1960 Games in Rome, winning a bronze medal in the 4X100 meter relay. If anyone could get her running, it would be David.

Ellin trains about 4-5 times a week, running between 3 to 4 miles at a time. She also does speedwork once a week. In her 6 years as a runner, Ellin has not been injured once, a success that she attributes to proper nutrition, work with her trainer, and taking rest days.

Recently, Ellin ran in the Road Runners Fifth Avenue Mile, placing third of six in her age group with a chip time of 12:31 and she is already making plans to attend the race again next year. Her personal running goals are to shave some time off of her fastest 5K (which was about 37 minutes) and to beat the All-American time in her age group for the 800 meters. When she ran the 800m for the first time this year, she finished in 5:45.1, 5.1 seconds off of the All-American time, so her goal is definitely in reach. She has finished over 70 5K races since March of 2009, which was shortly after she was introduced to running. Ellin has also earned the gold or silver Phidippides Award for outstanding performance and endurance in long distance running (given by USATF Track & Field and Masters) each year 2011-2014, as well as All-American honors for the 5K.

Seventy-four years may seem like a long time to wait before lacing up those running shoes for the first time, but Ellin Grossman is proving two old adages to a tee: “It’s better late than never” and “Good things come to those who wait.”

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